Give Her One Day
by bwayfan25
Summary: Nessa begins to realize Boq's true feelings after their time at the OzDust Ballroom. When she voices this, Boq vows to himself that he will give her one day of his attention. One-shot.


**Author's Note: My first fanfic on this site. I don't usually ship Bessa, but I couldn't get this out of my mind last night. So here it is. R&R please ~bwayfan25**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

After the OzDust ballroom, Boq began to notice that Nessa was a lot quieter when it came to him. But he didn't as much care that her feelings for him seemed to be subsiding. He was worried that Galinda would be upset. She had, after all, been so excited every time she saw Boq and Nessa together.

Boq had to admit though that it was his fault for Nessa's feelings. More than once he had kicked himself for he caught her watching him watch Galinda. Every time this happened, Nessa would turn away before he could look properly, pretend nothing had happened. And despite his amounting annoyance with her, Boq couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

One night, as Boq pushed Nessa back to her room, she was completely silent. Unlike other times of silence, her head was hung. Boq could tell that this time something was very wrong.

When they had reached the doors of the building, they exchanged small nods, and Boq turned away.

"Master Boq?" Nessa said, her very quavering ever so slightly. Boq's stomach clenched. They had not used such formalities since they had first turned back to her.

"Yes, Nessa?"

"Master Boq," Nessa said again, taking a deep breath. "You do not need to accompany me on outings anymore for you obviously do not wish to and I do not want to burden you with my presence."

Nessa's voice broke. She continued to breathe deeply, not making eye contact with him.

"Nessa, I…I do want to…accompany you," Boq lied, panicking. If they stopped spending time together, Galinda would get upset with him. He could _not_ let that happen.

"No you don't," Nessa whispered, shaking her head. "You want Miss…Galinda. I understand. She is pretty and popular and she can…she can…"

Nessa began to cry. It wasn't sobs or weeping though. It was simply silence as tears ran down her face.

Boq knew, of course, that almost everything she had said was true. He did not however, prefer Galinda simply because she could walk. But nevertheless, Boq felt bad for Nessa. Sure, he really didn't like her all that much, but he had played with her heart a bit. And he knew that if he broke Nessa's heart, he would have Elphaba to answer to.

Boq knelt down beside NEssa.

"I'm going to make it up to you. Tomorrow. We'll have a picnic down by the lake."

Nessa stared at him. The Lake. Nowhere else in Shiz was there a better "date spot" according to the likes of Galinda. After a few moments, she nodded slightly, giving him the signal to go ahead and stand up.

"I'll pick you up around noon. Dress warm!" Boq called, running backwards to wave goodnight, before turning and sprinting off into the darkness.

Nessa had followed his directions and was waiting in the usual spot outside dressed in a sweater and wool skirt, with a blanket over her legs.

A few minutes before noon, Boq appeared, carrying a blanket and a picnic basket. He looked very happy. Too happy almost, but Nessa didn't mind. She rather liked the spring in his step, even though, deep down, she knew it most certainly wasn't for her.

"Hello, Miss Nessarose," he said, bowing very low. When he rose, he smiled, and offered the basket, which Nessa took to hold.

They made their way off to the other side of the campus. Again, Nessa was silent, but this time it was because she was admiring everything around her, the birds, the clouds. Everything. With a pang, Boq realized that she probably hadn't probably gotten to spend much time outside as a child. From what she had told him of her father, he was very protective and felt her to be too fragile for such activity.

When they reached the lake, Boq parked Nessa facing the lake as he set everything up. HE lay out the blanket and food from the basket. But as he sat down, a thought came to him.

_You said you were going to make it up to her. Keep true to your word. Give her one afternoon that you don't think of Galinda. Dedicate just one afternoon to her. You have hurt her too much to give her anything less._

Boq heaved a sigh. He looked up at Nessa, who was staring out over the lake. Her long brown hair whipped around a bit in the wind. As he watched it, he realized her typical headband was gone. Either she had forgotten it, or she was trying to make herself less like herself. In an attempt to win him over? Boq didn't know.

Then, another though came to him. He stood up and approached her chair. In one movement, he swept her out of the chair and onto the blanket.

"I… I can't… please," she stammered. Her breatheing grew heavier, and her arms began to wave around. Nessa was having a panic attack from being separated from her chair.

And before Boq even knew he was doing it, he had wrapped his arms around her. After a few minutes, her breathing began to slow. He released her.

"You don't get out of the chair much, do you?" he asked. Nessa shook her head. She was still too panicked to joke.

"Here," he said, untying his shoes. "Take off your shoes. You'll start to feel more relaxed. I always do."

"No," she whispered, shaking her head.

"Why not? See? I did. Here. I'll help," Boq said, moving to grab her legs, but she moved them away before he could do anything.

"They're not….they don't look…" she whispered, on verge of tears yet again.

"Nessa. Look at me. I don't care what your feet look like. Just take your shoes off."

Nessa looked into his eyes. He seemed to be telling the truth, so heaved a heavy sigh, and unlocked the latches on her braces. Boq untied her boots and she slid them off.

"They're fine," Boq whispered to her, as she removed her knee socks. And he was being honest. With the exception of the in turning, they didn't look any different from any other feet Boq had ever seen.

"I guess they should be," Nessa said, with a little bit of a laugh. "We done enough to them."

Boq nodded, and turned to look at the sky. Nessa watched him. He was unconsciously wiggling his toes in the open air.

Nessa adjusted her legs so they laid out in front of her. With all her might, she willed her feet to move. Just pull a little in the calf. Just let them wiggle.

She let out a gasp that made Boq turn, ready to jump up. But she was just watching her feet. He toes had begun to twitch, and she soon was able to control them completely.

There was another pang in Boq's heart. Her father, her sister , doctors, everyone had always told her that her feet and legs didn't work at all. But that wasn't true, which meant she had never even known that she could wiggle her toes.

Boq felt deep regret in how he had treated her. All this time spent with her, and he barely knew anything about her. His vow redoubled.

"Shall we eat?" Boq said, turning to face Nessa. She nodded, and began pulling food out food out of the basket.

"Wait," he said quickly. "You're not allergic to anything, are you?"

Even more regret as he realized he had never even taken her out to dinner.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Well, yes. I'm allergic to milkflower."

"That's okay then. I didn't pack any."

They began to spread cheese on crackers. Nessa took a bit of hers, but when she pulled it away from her face, Boq began to laugh.

"What?"

"You have cheese on your nose!" Boq laughed.

Nessa crossed her eyes to try and see it, which made Boq laugh even harder.

"Fine," she said smiling, wiping cheese off the cracker and spreading it on his forehead. "Try and see that."

Within five minutes, there was no cheese left. All of it had been smeared on their faces and arms. They both lay on the ground, clutching their chests as they laughed at each other. Eventually, Boq took a napkin down to the lake to wet so they could wipe off the cheese.

Boq gently dapped off the cheese on Nessa's face after she did his. He had never really looked at it, but she was indeed beautiful. Her clear skin, deep brown eyes, all framed by her long brown hair. Her smile.

To distract himself from such thoughts, he resumed his position on his back, watching the sky. She did the same.

For quite a while, they lay and watched the clouds, every so often pointing one out. Eventually, Nessa sat up and began to nibble on a sandwich from the basket. She glanced at Boq. He was fast asleep. Nessa smiled, and laid down next to next to him. Within minutes, she too was asleep.

It was almost dark by the time Boq woke up. Nessa was curled up under arm. Silently, trying not to wake her, he scooped her up and gently placed her back in the chair. He gathered up the picnic supplies , and headed off down the path back to Shiz.

Once back to the dormitory, he lightly tapped her to wake her. She shook herself awake, and smiled.

"Thank you, Boq. That was the most wonderful afternoon I've ever had."

Boq found himself smiling back. And before he knew what he was doing, he kissed her on the lips. He felt warmth spread through his body. And he pulled away.

"Goodnight, Nessa," he whispered, turning away.

As he walked back to his own dormitory, he heard giggling. Behind a bush, a man was hugging a blonde woman. She giggled, and they began to kiss.

Boq hurried off as not to be noticed. He felt his stomach drop. He might love Nessa, but he was in love with Galinda.


End file.
